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Master Rank #563

In the Name of the Father

1993

GCML Total8.2040% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by Jim Sheridan

CastDaniel Day-Lewis · Pete Postlethwaite · Emma Thompson

Ireland / UKEnglishDrama133 minNot Rated
IMDb Top 250Narrative FeatureModerate pace
Find Where to Watch
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Berlin · 1

Spoiler-free premise

A young Belfast man living in London is wrongly drawn into a terrorism investigation.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

Belfast drifter Gerry Conlon is arrested in London after the 1974 Guildford pub bombing and pressured into a false confession. His father Giuseppe and friends are also imprisoned, while lawyer Gareth Peirce later examines withheld evidence.

Why it belongs

Jim Sheridan anchors wrongful conviction as a father-son drama, with Day-Lewis and Postlethwaite making prison, shame, and solidarity inseparable.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Interrogation rooms, typed statements, prison cells, protest noise, legal files, and U2 and Gavin Friday's music connect state pressure to family intimacy. Pete Postlethwaite's quiet Giuseppe challenges Gerry's defensive anger.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Berlin1 win1994 · official festival record ↗
Golden Bear1994 · Jim Sheridanofficial festival record ↗

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

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